Famed singer's Del Rey church may turn into apartments

A church once led by the late R&B singer O.C. Smith would be razed and replaced with a large apartment complex under a developer's proposal for a nearly five-acre site near Del Rey.

Houston-based Dinerstein Cos. wants to build a 216-unit building surrounding a multilevel parking structure north of Jefferson Boulevard and west of Centinela Avenue - in an often-overlooked county area not far from Playa Vista.

City of Angels Church of Religious Science has owned the property since 1995, but no longer holds Sunday services in its large sanctuary off Grosvenor Boulevard.

"It's an underutilized site," said Josh Vasbinder, vice president of The Dinerstein Cos. "All of the infrastructure is already in place. This site has all of the services and streets already there."

And Vasbinder said another benefit is the proximity to Playa Vista's growing corporate campus, as his new complex could provide "a middle ground" in terms of rents for those looking to live close to work.

The proposal, which will be heard July 14 by the county's Regional Planning Commission, requires a General Plan amendment and zoning change to accommodate a denser residential project than is currently permitted. It will eventually require approval from the Board of Supervisors.

But if residents and neighboring property owners have their way, the building would be redesigned and scaled down to meet the current land-use guidelines.

A petition that's circulated in the area holds nearly 200 signatures, many from residents along streets north and east of the project site, organizers say. Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents city property owners in Del Rey, in April sent county planners a letter saying he was against the zoning change.

The site today is zoned both low- and limited-multiple residence development, which would permit up to 30 units per acre, county planning documents state. The proposed land-use changes would allow for up to 50 units per acre, or a total of 218.

The density, coupled with the building's height at 4 1/2 stories, doesn't conform with the surrounding single-family homes, said Elizabeth Zamora, vice president of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council and president of another group called the Del Rey Homeowners and Neighbors Association.

Zamora, who grew up in the area near the Marina (90) Freeway, said residents already feel squeezed by commercial buildings to the west and new development along Jefferson.

"The height is a problem," she said of the planned Millennium-Playa del Mar complex. "If they would come down on the density, they could take a floor off that building."

That sentiment was echoed by Debby Berg and Susan Boyer, the owners of the 62-unit Club Marina apartment complex along Jefferson Boulevard, just south of the church property.

They're opposed to future apartment residents using an access road behind their complex to enter a 433-space parking structure and argue the building's height would block views and create a visual blight for their tenants whose balconies overlook the church site.

"It's almost like they're creating a Playa Vista north," Boyer said.

The neighbors' concerns are nothing new to Vasbinder, who pointed out that he has probably held 40 meetings in the community to discuss the plans. He said the company has also made a number of concessions, but declined to elaborate on potential changes to the proposal.

"We're presenting alternative plans, variations of what's been presented," he said. "It's a little bit of a moving target."

Zamora, though, said she's been discouraged by the community meetings and what she sees as a lack of progress.

"When the developer says they have made changes and have had over 40 meetings ... that is the truth," she said. "But they have been surface gestures about landscaping or decorative changes to the walls of the building."

Zamora said she hopes the property will attract a "quality project" of a lower residential density or perhaps another church. Residents would prefer a change, she said, because most days all they see is a vacant lot.

City of Angels held services at the sanctuary for a few years following the 2001 death of the Rev. O.C. Smith, said his widow, Robbie, a senior minister. But they eventually stopped, as she said her late husband was really "the life of the church."

A Louisiana native, Smith sang in clubs before replacing Joe Williams as Count Basie's vocalist. In 1968, he won a Grammy for his version of Bobby Russell's "Little Green Apples."

City of Angels got its start in 1985 at the Proud Bird on Aviation Boulevard, with Smith officiating. His biography says he'd been studying for the ministry and had graduated earlier that year.

Although Robbie Smith continues to preside over weddings and offer counseling and religious classes at City of Angels, "we don't need the space," she said.

The church will continue to offer teachings and services on the Web once the property is sold, she added, and proceeds will go to its education foundation.